Professor Xiao Zhuoji, a well known Chinese economist, December 17 reiterated that China has a solid foundation to maintain the stability of the Chinese yuan.

The current exchange rate of the yuan is appropriate and reasonable, Xiao said in an address to a symposium on challenges of economic globalization that will face both sides of the Taiwan Straits in the 21st century.

He attributed this to China's sufficient foreign exchange reserves and the positive index of retail consumer goods prices at home.

He went on to explain that China's foreign exchange reserves reached 151.7 billion US dollars in June this year, and short-term foreign debt accounts for only about 15 percent of the country's total foreign debts.

He noted that 18 million Chinese now work for foreign-funded enterprises whose export volume accounts for 40 percent of China's total. The stability of the yuan will be helpful to China for attracting more foreign investment, he said.

He said that a stable yuan will be conducive to maintaining normal trade ties between China and its trading partners, to improving public confidence in economic growth, and for maintaining the stability of the Hong Kong dollar. (Xinhua)